For those of you who are new readers in my little corner of Blogland, the idea behind the Manic Monday series is to share tips/tricks/hints that I have either learned, stumbled upon, or gotten from friends, to help make the week run a little more smoothly.

One thing that has helped us greatly is Family Fun Friday. It’s amazing how much looking forward to something at the end of the week boosts morale during the week filled with homework, housework, grumpies, sleepies, and everything in between! Our tradition of Family Fun Friday (FFF) began when we first moved to Ireland nearly 3 years ago. The first 6 weeks we were here, we were all sick. I had the stomach flu twice, plus the regular flu and colds. Hubs had the flu and sinus infections. Flower Girl had the stomach flu. Butterfly Girl had ear infections and colds. (The Man Cub wasn’t even a twinkle in our eye at the time, but that’s a very different post for another day). Anyway, the first day that we were all remotely well happened to be a Friday. Hubs and I declared it Family Fun Friday and we got take out food and watched a movie at home.

The next week, Flower Girl asked us what day it was. We told her it was Thursday and she decreed, “That means tomorrow’s Family Fun Friday!” And thus, a tradition was born. During the summer months, FFF sort of takes a hiatus, since we are all around more and time together as a family doesn’t have to be as structured or scheduled in order to guarantee it’s occurrence. But once school starts back, we really rely on our FFF!

Sometimes we visit the indoor pool where we have a membership and get some fun take out. Other times we have frozen pizza and watch a movie at home. Sometimes we hit up the local playground. And, on rare occasions, we hit the cinema. It really doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you are together and you have fun. One “rule” that has sort of evolved that I really love about FFF is that Mommy doesn’t cook on Fridays. So, if we eat at home, that means Hubs and the kids cook together, which I love. 🙂

So, take some time and examine your family’s schedule. Where can you fit in regular, quality time together as a family? It doesn’t have to be every week, but for our family that is ideal. And it really helps that it’s predictable; our kids know that Friday is family time and fun.

Do you have a regular family time set aside specifically for fun? What do you do? How often?